


to be adventurous pioneers and find ourselves at the end

by musicspeakstoo



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Bisexual Male Character, Blow Jobs, Families of Choice, Gender Dysphoria, Gender Issues, Genderfluid Character, Hand Jobs, Internalized Homophobia, Internalized Transphobia, Multi, Oral Sex, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Past Drug Addiction, Phone Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Teen Pregnancy, Threesome - F/M/M, Trans Male Character, Transphobia, Webcam/Video Chat Sex, past student/teacher relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2018-07-11 07:43:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7038979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicspeakstoo/pseuds/musicspeakstoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason Todd, a former foster kid, and his brother Dick Grayson, along with their two friends Wally West and Roy Harper make up the rising rock group, Zombie Robins. Jason’s life is doing pretty great, he should be on top of the world, but he can’t shake the grip that his past has on him.</p><p>Tim Drake, a fairly isolated kid who takes up photography and out of it finds: his friends, his gender identity, and a career. Tim’s parents disapprove of him and all but cut him off, leaving him to question whether his childhood isolation means he’s incapable of being loved.</p><p>The two are thrust together when Songbird Recordings, Zombie Robins’ label, decides it would be good for the band to hire a photographer to document their upcoming tour. The match strikes when they first meet, their connection undeniable, but will their respective issues get in the way of them finding true happiness?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> This is the band au that literally no one asked for but I decided to write anyway. A couple notes on the content: there is a relationship that began when one was a student and the other was a professor, though no sexual actions happen while the relationship is such, though it does begin in that situation but both parties were over the age of 18. The homophobia warned for in the tags is mostly internalized, though there will be a couple instances of homophobic slurs as well, I will warn for that before the start of the chapter. There is also transphobia that is both internalized and comes from external sources, which I will also warn for. However, consider them blanket warnings for the story as a whole.
> 
> I wasn't really sure how to tag for this but: there is a genderfluid character who came out to their parents and was rejected and this story mentions that. Said character uses two sets of pronouns (he/them) and I, and other characters, will use them interchangeably. This character does not mind. Both this character and the trans character suffer from gender dysphoria at times and I will warn for that in the relevant chapters as well, including this one.
> 
> There are past references to abuse that happened when two characters were children. It is always in the past, /never/ something that happens in the story itself. I will not get into detail about it in the story, but a character has flashback after being triggered and so therefore it is briefly mentioned. There are references to a previous drug addiction that a character had and continues to struggle with, which will also be mentioned.
> 
> Most importantly, there is a trans male character who gets pregnant and gives birth as a teenager. He keeps and raises the child and is in a healthy, stable relationship with someone who is not the child's father. This character has not physically transitioned, but does outwardly present as male.
> 
> I hope I got all of the trigger warnings but if anyone needs something tagged please please tell me. The ages are a little fuzzy here but Dick and Wally are 25, Roy is 24, Jason is 23, and Tim is 21. Unbeta'd, so any mistakes are mine. Last but most certainly not least, a gigantic, huge thank you to len for caring about this au when I thought literally no one else would.

Tim’s just finished putting all their equipment in the car when their phone rings and the caller ID flashes _Cass_ with an emoji of a boy and a girl holding hands next to it.

“Hey Cass, I’ve got a gig so you have the fifteen minutes it’ll take me to get there to talk,” they say, holding their phone with one hand and shutting the rear door of the car with the other.

“Good, because that’s all I have until I have an R&D tour,” Cass says, but they can hear her smile.

This is the way the two of them have always worked, carving out time in their busy lives to talk to each other, but never really stopping. Even before Tim realized that any version of them that their parents would love wouldn’t be the one that would allow them to sleep at night. Unfortunately, their parents shutting them out coincides with Cass stepping into her role as heir to Drake Industries, and it’s put a strain on how freely and frequently they communicate, something that they knows upsets Cass a lot.

“Must be our freaky psychic twin powers,” Tim says and Cass laughs.

They’re not actually twins. Hell, they’re not even biologically related, but they share a similar build: slender and a little over average height, with long black hair and the same face shape, so people just gave them a cursory glance and then “the Drake twins” became their joined epithet. 

“Must be. How are you doing, T?” she asks and though they’re not twins, Tim swears there’s some truth to the psychic part.

Tim looks down at what they’re wearing and makes a face. They would rather be in a skirt today, or something that makes them feel equally feminine, but picking splinters out of their knees is a pain in the ass. Thankfully, skinny jeans are gender neutral enough that they’re not dysphoric every time they put them on whenever they’re not feeling masculine. The music scene they work in is accepting enough that the lavender nail polish and bit of makeup they’re sporting won’t get heavily commented on. Their long hair is up in a ponytail, as it usually is when they’re working, no matter what they feel like.

“Ehh okay, been busy. I’m meeting with Steph on Thursday,” they say, getting into the car and starting it.

“Trouble.” It’s a question disguised as a statement in the way that means Cass is asking for clarification or confirmation. 

“Nah, no more than usual. She’s potentially got a gig for me, a longterm thing.”

Tim pulls out of their driveway as the bluetooth kicks in and their sister’s voice fills the car, “Anyone I’d know?”

That’s a twofold joke. The first part is that Cass knows everyone that Tim knows, a product of being fake twins. They were grouped together often and because of that, and a little in spite of it, they became inseparable. The other part is that Cass didn’t have the childhood Tim had and there are large gaps in her pop culture knowledge. It’s the kind of thing they can joke about now, with time and a shitton of therapy smoothing the roughest edges of that tragedy. 

“Actually, you would. They’re Bruce Wayne’s boyfriend’s band,” Tim says, easing to a stop at a red light.

It’s more accurate to say that they’re Clark’s friend’s boyfriend’s band, because that’s the _real_ connection, but that requires jumping through too many mental hoops. 

“Zombie Robins?”

Tim hums an affirmative, checking their makeup in the mirror.

“What are you gonna be doing with them?” Cass sounds distracted and it makes Tim smile as they reapply their lipgloss.

“Not fully sure, Steph said their label wants them to document their upcoming tour and that Roy, their drummer, was saying that they’re not looking forward to interviewing people.” 

Cass hums, a familiar thinking noise, “Well, if Steph’s recommending it to you, it must be good.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

There’s a pause and the twin telepathy thing goes both ways because Tim can tell she’s debating whether or not to say something.

“Out with it, Cass,” they say, pulling into the venue’s lot, the only cars in the lot belong to the staff.

“If you take this job, it means you won’t be coming to the company barbecue this summer, then, or any of the other DI functions.”

Tim sighs, resists the urge to scratch at their side where their tattoo is still healing,“Cass, Jack and Janet wouldn’t want me there anyway, you know that. I’m not exactly the perfect Drake heir that they can parade around.”

They feel bad for the bitterness in their voice, it’s not Cass’ fault that the traumatized girl their parents adopted, the one who couldn’t read and barely speak, turned out to be so business savvy and completely willing to run their company. It’s also not her fault that they couldn’t accept Tim, she hadn’t even known they were estranged until Tim had called her once in their presence and they’d made noises of disapproval. 

They think Tim’s gender fluidity is a phase, that they’re just being difficult out of spite, and it hurts Cass a lot, to be stuck between her twin and her parents. Tim tries not to aggravate the situation too much, but Cass thinks the three of them need to just talk things out. She’s the favorite, Tim reasons, so of course she doesn’t understand.

There’s another beat of silence and then she sighs, letting whatever she was going to say go. 

“Alright, well, I can tell you’re at the venue already and I have to go meet Tam for the tour, so we’ll shelve this conversation for now.”

Tim smiles, “Tell Tam I say hi.”

“Ditto to Steph. Keep me posted on the Zombie Robins thing, okay?”

“Will do, bye Thing One.”

“Bye, Thing Two.”

Tim laughs as they shut the car off and get out to unload their gear.

++

Jason barges through the door and walks in to see Roy half into of his binder and with his pants unzipped.

“Sorry, dude, gotta piss.”

Roy flips him off, “You’re such a classy fella, Jayce. Can’t ever have a fucking moment of privacy around here.”

Jason rolls his eyes, not bothering to close the bathroom door when he pees, yelling to Roy, “First of all, this is my fucking apartment and this is my fucking room, I don’t know why you’re even changing in here when we have like three guest rooms. Second of all, you hypocritical sonovabitch, you’re the nosiest person I’ve ever met and considering who my brother is, that’s saying a lot.”

“Hey, fuck you!” Dick calls from the open doorway.

“Dude,” Wally says, coming up behind him, “don’t even try to defend yourself against that, I saw you going through my sock drawer last time you guys were at my place.”

“I was looking for your weed stash, jackass,” Dick says, dodging the wet willie Wally tries to give him.

“Aww,” Roy says, pulling a shirt on, “your sugar daddy not copping your pot fund anymore? You not putting out enough?”

Dick pulls Roy into a headlock and he shouts, Jason laughs from where he’s washing his hands. He loves Dick and he loves Bruce, but three years into their relationship and the sugar daddy jokes show no sign of getting old. Roy pinches the skin under Dick’s arm and he yelps and lets go. Roy makes a big show of smoothing his hair down and Wally throws an empty water bottle at him.

“Now that you’re all here, let’s have an impromptu band meeting,” a voice from behind them says.

Jason groans, along with his bandmates, and they turn to see Donna looking at them like she thinks they’re all idiots. It’s possible that they’re all idiots. She herds them out into the living room where they all sit on the couch, except for Dick who flings his legs over the back of the couch and hangs upside down. Loser.

Donna flicks him on the forehead, “You guys take your meds today, Dickie baby? Jayce?”

Jason nods his head, then rolls his eyes at the sheepish expression on Dick’s face, “I may have forgotten to do that but in my defense Wally pounded on our door at seven this morning and you know I’m useless without my beauty rest.”

Jason sighs deeply and Donna rolls her eyes. Dick’s always been dramatic, a hangup from his childhood in the circus. It’s also to blame for his love for the spotlight, something Jason loves and hates about him in equal measure. It’s saved his life, both of their lives, but it also gets them into a shitload of trouble. Donna hands Dick two pills and a bottle of water, which he doesn’t use, just lifts himself upright enough that he won’t choke on the pills when he swallows them.

“Oh screw you, Grayson,” Roy says, “Lian woke us up at _five_ this morning for some godforsaken reason which allows little kids to be up and functioning at that hour.”

Roy’s been a parent for nearly as long as Jason’s known him and it’s still strange to hear him act like it. It’s not exactly his fault, they’re on the road a lot so Roy doesn’t have to be a parent with them, doesn’t have to be anything but himself. Still, whenever Lian visits it’s always a shock that the same guy who was decimating them at battleship shots the night before is the same guy swinging around a little girl in a tiara. 

Donna kicks Jason’s feet off the coffee table and sits down across from them, cutting off whatever argument the three of them were going to start, and says, “We need to talk about the tour.”

This is what he loves most about Donna, why he’d readily agreed when she offered to be their tour manager, she’s not a bullshitter. She also knows how to handle a situation when the tough love approach just won’t work or would make it worse. She also knows how to manage a group of guys who, on a good day, are about as easy to handle as herding cats.

Jason doesn’t have any real memories of her, she wasn’t in the group home long before her aunt got her out, and what he does remember are mostly stories Dick told him combined some of his own fuzzy recollections. Dick’s bright presence tends to block everyone else out, there are a bunch of kids Dick swears Jason knew and interacted with, but he doesn’t remember them. He’d never really liked the other kids in the group home much anyway, it was always Dick who would charm and make nice with them. He’d been the barrier between Jason and the rest of the world, though when he was younger, Jason had tried to make the reverse true as well. It’s one more thing he’ll never be able to repay Dick for.

“What about it?” Wally asks, “It’s not our first cross-country tour, we’re not newbies we know how it all works.”

“I hear the bus is nicer, though,” Roy adds. 

Donna smiles, “Yes, the bus is nicer.” Thank god for small miracles, Jason thinks.

“But,” she continues, “You guys are getting bigger this time around and that means things will have to be a little different. You’ll have bigger crowds, so you can’t hang at the bar before and after shows anymore,” they all groan but she shoots them a sharp look and they shut up. 

“But you can still do stuff out by the bus. Also, the label really wants you guys to have a photographer for this tour, and possibly for the next album’s recording process, and I know you guys would rather pick someone out yourselves than have those guys pick for you.”

By “you guys,” she means Jason. He’s never been good with outsiders, he’s not easily outgoing like Dick or Roy, he doesn’t have Wally’s comforting presence, and his life on the streets before he’d been placed at St. Cecelia’s had left him with major trust issues. New people put him on edge, whereas the rest of the guys would easily make friends with a stranger.

“Oh!” Roy says, looking up from retying his shoes, “I meant to say, Steph mentioned that she might have a photographer for us. A friend of hers, I’m pretty sure. I know she mentioned they did some stuff for the Spoilers before.”

Donna raised an eyebrow, “Does this photographer have a name?”

Roy shrugs, “Probably, but I can’t remember what it is.”

“Great,” she groans.

“This _is_ Steph we’re talking about,” Wally says, scratching his arm, “if she trusts him, or her, that must mean they’re good enough for Jason’s paranoia.”

Jason flips him off.

“Well, she said she’d be bringing them along to their release party on Thursday so we’ll find out then,” Roy says.

Thursday is cutting it a little close for the tour, especially if this person turns out to be an asshole. It’s at least a slight possibility with Steph, and Jason’s come to expect to worst. It hurts less than hoping for the best. 

It’s better than having no prospects whatsoever, though, so Donna lets it go without further comment. 

They go over the rest of the logistics for the tour including bus arrangements and the setlist and the other tiny details that make up a tour. Jason offers his input sometimes but he’s mostly stuck thinking about what it means that someone new will be following them around, capturing every moment of their lives. All the little moments that are usually just between the four of them. It’s terrifying, there’s a reason Jason hates giving interviews, has thrown up before each and every one he’s ever done. Jason _knows_ he’s fucked up and the prospect of their fans, the whole world, finding out just how much is makes him shake. He has to excuse himself to go have a panic attack in the bathroom.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, guys, thanks for all the kudos and comments, they mean a lot! mkay, here's chapter two. I know it's also kind of short, but I've never done a multichapter before and I'm still getting into the swing of things. I still don't have a beta, so all mistakes are still mine.

Jason wakes up abruptly out of a nightmare, shaking. He can’t remember what it was about, his head is clouded with panic and his ears are ringing from the sounds of a child screaming. So, really not good then. He swears and carefully takes deep, even breaths the way they taught him in anger management. Having something to focus on helps and he notices that it’s light in his room, maybe around ten in the morning. 

Once his breathing has slowed, he can finally hear something other than his thudding pulse and the sounds of ghosts. Instead, his ears pick up the sound of Dick singing Disney songs obnoxiously loudly. It helps shake off the last vestiges of the nightmare and Jason stumbles out of bed into the hallway, following the enthusiastic rendition of ‘I Wanna Be Like You’ to the kitchen.

Dick is rarely in the apartment when they’re home in Gotham, choosing instead to spend his time way out past the city proper in Wayne Manor with Bruce, or Damian, if Bruce is working. Dick technically doesn’t live there, yet, but he sleeps there more often than not as well. Jason would be jealous, and in the past he was, but his brother is happier than he’s ever been and Jason is a lot more sure of his place in Dick’s life than he was as a teenager. 

Dick’s at the stove when Jason ambles into the kitchen, one omelette on a plate and the other still in the pan. There’s a bunch of bacon, too, and orange juice, because Dick is used to eating meals with a growing child. He finishes his song as Jason shuffles into the kitchen and shoots Jason a bright smile when he catches sight of him.

“Heyyyy Jaybird, you’re just in time for breakfast!” Dick is wearing a shirt that Jason’s fairly certain is _his_ , along with ratty old sweatpants that are black at the bottom from the time they got high and microwaved a Peep, only to set it on fire and drop it on the floor. 

Jason just yawns in acknowledgment, getting a mug from the cupboard and pouring himself some coffee. Two arms wrap around his torso as he’s reaching for the sugar and he sighs, lets Dick hug him. He’s not sure if Dick knows he’s had a nightmare or not, he’s always been a touchy-feely sort of person and Jason has mostly stopped complaining about it. On mornings like this, though, he appreciates the physical grounding of Dick’s affection. Dick drops a loud, smacking kiss on his temple and Jason sighs, looking skyward and asking for strength.

“Sister Amelia said it doesn’t count if it’s sarcastic,” Dick singsongs, waggling the spatula at Jason and then plating the second omelet. 

“Sister Amelia also used to say that broccoli was the path to righteousness, so she couldn’t have been that worth listening to,” Jason fires back, taking the eggs from Dick.

Dick makes a disagreeing sound, “She only said that because you were a skinny shrimp but stubborn as fuck and determined to not eat anything green.” 

Jason throws a piece of bacon at him but Dick being the freak of nature that he is, catches it in his mouth.

“Have you been taking lessons from Bruce’s dog?”

++

They laze around the apartment the rest of the day and Jason’s feeling better by the time they meet up with Roy, Wally, and Donna to go the Spoilers’ album release party. It’s doubtful that things will get out of hand, Donna mentioned that the girls’ families are going to be there and sure enough, they see Commissioner Gordon talking to Babs just as they get inside the club. Jason has a bad history with cops, but the commissioner is nice enough so Jason nods hello as the rest of the guys greet him. 

“Hiya, Barbie,” Jason says, giving her his smarmiest smirk.

Babs is one of the best managers in the business and it would be folly to seriously get on her bad side, but that doesn’t mean Jason can’t give her shit.

“Hey, punk ass,” she says, pulling him into a hug.

He’s known Babs forever, since he was still trying to learn guitar well enough to help make Dick’s rock star dream come true. She was almost their manager, but Jason can’t find it in himself to regret losing her to the Spoilers. Donna is great and even if she wasn’t, by now she’s family and Jason doesn’t quit on family.

He scans the crowd while the rest of band exchange pleasantries with the commissioner, long past giving a damn about being rude. Babs will find some way to get him for it, but he’s had worse. Helena Bertinelli is surrounded by admirers and she blows Jason a kiss when he catches her eye. He returns it and grins when he spots Zinda Blake gesturing wildly with a drink in her hand as she explains something to Kendra Saunders and Kate Spencer, which accounts for all of the Spoilers, except. 

He sees a blonde blur out of the corner of his eye and Steph bounces up to them wearing purple skinny jeans, a gray beanie, and a shirt that says “yes I am and no you can’t watch.” Which is about all anyone needs to know about Steph, really. That, and she’s a killer drummer. She’s beaming when she hugs each of them, though she punctuates her hug to Jason with a punch to the shoulder. She must be in a good mood, Jason can still feel his arm. 

“Hey, guys, glad you could make it.”

“Glad to be here, congrats!” Dick says and they all nod in agreement.

It sucks, but female bands, especially all-female ones, have a harder time making it in the industry, though Dinah’s trying to change that by creating Black Canary, a shootoff of Songbird Records that signs only female artists. The girls have worked their asses off for this and though he and Steph give each other unnecessary amounts of shit, he’s really happy for her.

“Are you solo tonight or is your cougar going to make her appearance?” Dick asks, grinning.

It’s only fair that for the amount of shit Dick gets for Bruce, he should give at _least_ that to anyone else with an older significant other. 

Steph rolls her eyes, “Kara’s running a little late but she’ll be here.”

“And the photographer you promised us?” Wally asks.

Steph pulls her phone out and frowns at it, “Should be here soon too.”

Jason feels a wave of anxiety run through him, he’d managed to forget that they were supposed to be interviewing someone new tonight. A familiar laugh reaches him just as Jason worries he’s going to have a panic attack and Jason and the rest of them turn to see Clark laughing at something that someone, maybe the dark haired kid next to him, had said. Jason feels himself start to smile reflexively and knows that the others are doing the same. 

Clark Kent may be a serious journalist with a Pulitzer under his belt, but he’s also the nicest person Jason’s ever met. It made Jason wary of him at first, until he’d learned that Clark was not without his faults. It also helped that Bruce, who has trust issues that could rival Jason’s, has called Clark his best friend for many years. Tonight, though, he’s only here for Steph and he looks just at home in this bar full of people as Jason imagines he would back on his family’s farm in Kansas.

“Shit, I didn’t know he was gonna be here,” Dick is practically vibrating with excitement now.

Steph shrugs, “He insisted this was something he couldn’t miss.” 

Her face is weird in that way Roy’s used to be whenever Ollie and Dinah got involved with the band. The way Jason used to look at Dick when they were kids, confused as to why he was hanging around all the time. Considering what Jason knows of her past, Clark’s probably the closest thing to a parent Steph’s got.

Clark sees them and his face lights up, excusing himself from the group he was talking to. Knowing Clark, it’s going to be awhile before he gets to them and so they all head to the bar to get a drink, except for Roy, who starts up a conversation with Steph about drumheads. Jason gets his beer first and leans back against the bar, tracking Clark’s progress. It seems every few feet he gets stopped by someone else, which isn’t a surprise considering that almost every band on the Songbird label, hell, in the _scene_ , has spent at least a night on the Kents’ floor. 

To his right, Dick is laughing at something Wally has said, and Roy now has his phone out to show Steph something, probably photos of Lian, but Jason doesn’t feel the need to join in on either conversation. There are so few times where he feels this in the moment and tonight is promising to be a good night, whether or not the photographer works out. He can let himself enjoy it.

Clark finally manages to disentangle himself from the group he’d been pulled into just before the bar and Jason greets him with a hug. Clark is one of the few people outside of the band that he lets touch him and he’s never once made Jason regret it. 

“Hey, Jay, how’ve you been?”

“Pretty good,” he shrugs, “y’know.”

“Yeah?” Clark looks him in the eye and that’s the thing about Clark, when he asks how you are, he really means it. Which is why Jason holds his gaze when he replies, “Yeah, I mean, tour’s coming up and it’s stressful but, it’s pretty much status quo from there.”

Which means that Jason’s no less mentally ill than he was when they last saw each other, but he’s no worse either. 

“Clark!” Dick launches himself at Clark and Clark laughs as he hugs Dick.

“Good to see you, Dick. Heard from Bruce you’ve started writing for your next album.”

Dick lights up, “Yeah, yeah I’m hoping that being on tour will help shake the creative juices.”

“We’re in a bit of a block right now,” Wally says, annoyed.

Clark shakes his head, “That’s the worst.” 

“You would know,”Dick says, grinning. “So what’s up with you, dude?”

Clark shrugs, “Not much, I’ve got this story on the revitalization of the Metropolis port area I’m working on, and Kon’s gonna be done with college soon.”

“Damn, already? You’re getting old, dude,” Jason teases.

Clark groans and drags a hand down his face, “Ugh, you’re not kidding. He’s here, though, if you guys wanna say hi.”

That must be the kid he was laughing with earlier, Jason thinks. He’d known that Conner was friends with Steph, but he’s never actually officially met the kid. He’d been too busy with classes and the bike shop he works at, though Jason’s seen him in passing whenever they’d crashed at Clark’s. And, of course, Clark never stops talking about him.

Roy walks up to them and Clark hugs him too. 

“We were just talking about how Clark feels old because Kon’s almost done with college,” Jason says to Roy.

Roy looks at Clark sympathetically, “Man, I know how you feel. Lian’s gonna be starting school soon and it’s like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms for the first time.”

They both shake their heads and Jason figures it’s got to be a parent thing, because he’s seen Bruce do it talking about Damian. Dick’s started to do it too, but Jason carefully isn’t going to think about that.

Kara comes up beside Clark, thankfully cutting off that sappy line of conversation. Jason hadn’t known that anyone could smile wider than Clark already is, but at the sight of his cousin, it stretches further across his face.

“Hey, you,” he says, hugging her, “Long time, no see.”

She grins back and though the difference in hair color and build initially throws people off, there’s no mistaking that smile for the family trait that it is. Clark may have a Pulitzer, and many other journalistic awards, but Jason believes that his real talent lies in the fact that he raised a toddler and a teenager at the same time and all three emerged relatively unscathed. 

“Hey, yeah, wow I know it’s been forever,” she turns to them, “Hey, guys.”

They all greet her and she turns back to Clark, “Babs told me to come get you, she wants to take a family photo with the band.”

Clark nods and they excuse themselves, promising to swing by later to continue catching up. Jason watches them go, Kara saying something and Clark nodding along. Dick nudges him with his elbow and tilts his bottle towards Jason. He taps his against Dick’s in response and smiles at him as he takes a sip.

++

Later, they’re all gathered around the table, debating the best Woodie Guthrie song, when Steph comes up to them dragging someone with her and Jason feels his stomach swoop.

They’ve got black hair that falls almost to their shoulders and bright blue eyes framed by a thin layer of black eyeliner, eyelashes that are long and thick with mascara and there’s a silver barbell through one eyebrow plus piercings in both ears, three holes in each lobe and some rings through the cartilage. Their lips are pink and shiny, probably with the same lipgloss that Steph’s wearing. 

Jason will quit playing guitar and take up the banjo if this kid’s taller than 5’ 9” which, combined with the fact that they’re probably younger than Jason, makes him start mentally calling them “the kid.” The kid’s wearing skinny jeans and a bomber jacket over a plain black t-shirt with ratty Converse and is so goddamn pretty that Jason is going crazy just looking at them.

Which is when Steph says, “This is T, your new photographer.”

Dick lights up instantly, “Hi! It’s nice to meet you. I’m Dick Grayson, I’m the lead singer. This is our guitarist and my brother, Jason Todd.” 

Jason nods and mentally gives the kid credit because when Dick calls him “brother”, they just roll with it, not a hint of skepticism on their face. 

“This is our drummer, Roy Harper and our bassist, Wally West. And this beautiful, but incorrect about musical stylings of folk heroes, is our darling tour manager, Donna Troy.” 

Roy and Wally raise their glasses in greeting while Donna flips Dick off before shaking T’s hand.

“Hi, everyone,” T says, “Steph’s told me about you guys, and I’ve also heard about you from some of the other people around Songbird. Steph mentioned that you’re in need of a photographer, yeah?”

The last part is probably aimed more at Donna, but they all make affirming noises. The kid’s voice is deeper than Jason had expected but not gravelly like his own. It’s kind of nice, actually. 

Steph squeezes T’s arm, “Well, I’m gonna let you guys talk while I go sneak away and try to convince my girlfriend to have sex with me in the bathroom. Come find me when you’re done.”

She bounces off after a quick kiss to T’s cheek and a wave at all of them. T watches her go fondly before turning back to them, taking the seat Wally offered.

“So how long have you known Steph?” Wally asks, making conversation because he’s the only normal one in the band.

“I’ve known her practically forever,” T says, “since high school.” 

Jason feels his eyebrows shoot up, but T’s not looking at him because they’re answering Wally’s question about their recent photography work. If Tim’s been friends with Steph since high school, he’s probably also friends with Conner, and Jason wonders how they haven’t met before. And they definitely haven’t because Jason would remember someone like this, no matter what substance he was under the influence of. He itches to ask T for some embarrassing stories to tease Steph about, or maybe ask them how it is they haven’t met before, but then they say, “Oh! And I did the photos for Steph’s band’s last festival show.”

Jason loses track of what he was thinking and raises an eyebrow, impressed. Those had been killer photos and Jason thinks a few of them ended up in a magazine, one of the ones Bruce _doesn’t_ own. Beside him, Roy whistles, equally impressed.

Dick is practically bouncing in his seat and Jason knows that this is pretty much the extent of the conversation even before he says, “Cool! So you’ve done the band thing before, awesome. Well, our label thinks it would be a good idea to document our touring process, and probably our next album too, so you’d be in it for the long haul.”

T smiles and Jason tries not to swoon, “I’m down with that.”

Jason interrupts, because someone needs to be the adult here and that grin is distracting enough that if he doesn’t say it now, he’ll forget.

“We’ll need to have a contract and stuff. I know you’ve done the band thing before but this is longer than a festival so make sure you’re 100 percent behind this, we don’t want you to flake out halfway through.”

Roy, Wally, and Dick roll their eyes at him, but Donna shoots him an approving glance. T’s expression turns serious and they nod, “Of course, I understand. I’ve got a couple other gigs lined up this week, so you should let me know when you guys want to sit down and hash this out.”

Donna pulls out her phone, “Well, we’re a little pressed for time, tour starts in a month, but I think we can do Monday morning, if that works for you.”

T nods and pulls out their phone, “That does work.” 

Dick interrupts, “We’ll work all of that out later, let us buy you a drink first.”

T shrugs, “That works for me.”

Donna sighs, put-upon and Jason finds himself smiling as he says, “ _Fine_ , I guess we can table it for another time.” 

“That’s the spirit, Jason!” Wally says, “Now there’s one thing I gotta know, T.”

T leans forward, smiling a little, “What’s that?”

“Are you a boy or a girl?”

T’s smile turns into a smirk, “I’m a transcendent beam of light.”

“Hell fucking yeah,” Roy says, leaning across the table to give them a high-five. 

++

T, as it turns out, is short for Tim. Tim is genderfluid, newly 21 and uses him/his but also responds to they/them. He mentions it in the conversation they have at their sit-down in a meeting room at Songbird’s headquarters on Monday. 

“Basically don’t be surprised if I show up in heels one day,” he jokes and Jason will think about that image at another time and definitely not while they’re having a super serious conversation about business.

This is also the time in the hiring process for new crewmembers for Roy to explain that he’s trans, and Tim is no exception. He and Roy start what promises to be an epic, and kind of crude, conversation on gender.

“I don’t wanna come out yet but there’s so little privacy on tour that I don’t want someone to go screaming because they opened a door while I was changing and saw my tits,” Roy says, Tim nodding along.

Donna is clearly loathe to break up the conversation, but she’s more professional than that, “We just have to have you finish signing some paperwork and then I think we should be good to go.”

Tim nods, “And you guys said that you’ll know by the halfway point of the tour whether or not you’re gonna need me for the album?”

“Yeah,” Donna says, “And I know that’s inconvenient for you, but that’s what we’ve got.”

Tim shakes his head, “Nah, it’s fine, I get it.”

Donna kicks the rest of them out so she and Tim can go over more logistics. As soon as they’re on the street, Roy lets out a whoop and declares that lunch is on him.

Suffice to say, Roy is now ecstatic to have Tim tour with them and after he cheated them out of nearly all of the money they’d had at pool last night, Wally and Dick have practically adopted him. 

It’s not that Jason _doesn’t_ want him around, in fact he knows they’re super lucky to have found Tim, it’s just that it’s a little too easy for Jason to be fully comfortable with. Anyone he doesn’t know is a threat and while Jason can take care of himself, anyone who’s a threat to Jason is a threat to Dick and Dick’s already taken too many hits for Jason. 

It just _really_ sucks that Tim’s so pretty.

++

“I’m so screwed,” Tim moans, flopping down on his bed. On his screen, Cassie and Kon laugh at him. 

“So what that you think the guitarist is hot?” Cassie says, “You think plenty of people are hot, Tim, case in point.” She gestures back and forth between herself and Kon.

Tim whines, “That’s _different_ , with Jason I feel like-” he cuts off and darts a look at Kon.

“Dude,” Kon says, “I’ve had sex with you, we’re past that point.” 

Tim rolls his eyes as Cassie smacks Kon in the chest, “I feel like I could explode from lust just looking at him. I’ve barely met the guy and he’s already starred in a couple of wet dreams.” 

“Care to share?” Cassie asks, waggling her eyebrows.

Kon makes an offended noise and Tim smirks, “You’ve got your own walking wet dream right next to you.”

Conner preens as Cassie and Tim laugh.

“I don’t blame you, though,” Kon adds, “They crashed at dad’s once while I was there and I saw him doing his laundry in his underwear on my way to soccer practice.”

“Yeah?” Cassie asks.

“He’s really hot,” Kon says, turning to Cassie.

She looks at Tim and he nods.

“Hmm, you _definitely_ need to hit that, then.”

Tim nods and sighs. It’s going to be a long summer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. Remember me? Remember this thing? No? That's okay, I'd forgotten about it a little bit too. But, thanks to a _lovely_ comment, I've sort of gotten back into the swing of things. I have a clearer outline of the story, and I think I know how many chapters this is gonna be, so that's good. As per usual, this has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are mine.
> 
> Warnings for this chapter include brief mentions of anxiety and past drug abuse. Nothing graphic, but I'd promised I'd warn you.

Tim’s been up for hours when his alarm goes off. It’s been a particularly bad night, as far as his insomnia goes. It’s due to his anxiety, both about starting the job and in general. Or, at least he hopes it is. It would suck if he were developing a new mental disorder.

He’s checked and double checked and triple checked all of his camera equipment. He’s also unpacked and repacked his suitcases four times. And by that point it was only seven, so he’d gone for a run. Now his alarm is going off just as he’s reaching home, so he shuts it off and hops straight in the shower.

He kind of wants to jerk off but he also kind of doesn’t have the energy to and it’s irritating him. He decides not to but instead he spends a little more time on his hair than usual, using some of his fancy shampoo he hoards like it’s going out of style. He also takes more consideration into his outfit, and throws on some cologne even though he only uses it whenever he shoots something that isn’t a concert and he has to be a Real Adult. He used to use it for Drake Industries stuff, but that’s in the past now.

He tells himself it’s because he wants to start off on the right foot and not because he wants to impress Jason.

Tim makes himself a pot of coffee, he’s got a couple hours until he has to meet everyone, he’ll have time to drink it all. He contemplates whether or not he wants to eat something, remembers what he’s like with nothing but a pot of coffee in him, and makes himself some french toast. Normally he’d just make regular toast, but he has time and there’s always been something soothing about cooking and baking to him. The exactness of it all, maybe, combined with an unexpected amount of leeway.

It’s kind of like why he loves photography.

~~

Roy groans as high-pitched shrieks wake him up. He opens his eyes just a little to see that it’s only seven in the morning. He groans again and closes his eyes.

“Roy,” Kori says sleepily from the other side of the bed, “go deal with your daughter.”

He grumbles his disagreement, “I thought we’d decided that before ten a.m., she’s _your_ daughter.”

Kori makes a disagreeing noise and he can feel her burrow under the covers more. There’s a thud from the general area of the living room and Roy sighs. Being a parent has him running on less sleep than any of his wild teenage adventures ever had. Lian shrieks again and he whines, rolling over in bed. He remembers being a loud and noisy kid himself and wonders if this is how his parents felt. The thought makes bile rise in his throat and he sits up, swallowing it back as he rubs at his eyes.

It’s fucking awful to say, but _shit_ he misses the drugs sometimes. The days when everything is so much more difficult than it needs to be or the dysphoria is so bad he doesn’t want to get out of bed. 

Except then after he pees and goes into the living room, he sees that Lian has attempted to recreate the blanket fort they made the other night but has only managed to drag the chairs over and yank all the cushions off the couch. She looks up at him, triumphant, and he remembers why he’s five hard-won years sober and still fighting.

Normally, he’d see if he could fob her off on Dinah and Ollie, who are usually up at early hours doing things for the label, but that’s not really an option anymore, as far as he knows, so he helps her build a fort and then they sit and watch a rerun of Sesame Street followed by The Aristocats, Lian’s current movie obsession. He’s just glad it’s not The Fox and the Hound again, there’s only so many times he can cry at a movie before it gets embarrassing. It’s about ten when they finish the movie and Roy’s going to have to pack soon and meet up with the guys.

He scoops Lian up, “Let’s go wake up Kori and have breakfast, huh?”

Lian had been two when Roy and Kori had first started dating, she’s never known any other parents than them but they were so _young_ and Kori hadn’t been ready to be “mom” yet. He’s hoping that might change in the next year or two.

“I want pancakes!” she declares.

He laughs, “Yes, we can have pancakes.”

“With chocolate chips!”

He agrees, unable to deny her anything. He dumps her on their bed, thankful that he and Kori had gotten dressed again after having sex last night.

Lian jumps on the bed, saying Kori’s name in a singsong. Kori’s evidently already awake and she grabs for Lian and they both go down in a flurry of tickling and giggles. Roy leans against the doorway, grinning fondly.

~~

Dick wakes up to a familiar stubbled cheek nuzzling his face, and a familiar voice calling his name.

He whines, annoyed. The voice chuckles, “I swear, you’re harder to wake up in the mornings than Damian is.”

Dick turns toward Bruce, reluctantly opening his eyes. Bruce is in a t-shirt and sweatpants, which means he’s already finished his morning workout and is about to get in the shower. It also means that Dick’s overslept.

Bruce is spooned up behind him and Dick takes a second to drink him in, as he always does. He’d never thought he would feel like this, that love could _feel_ like this, with anyone before he’d met Bruce. Their road hasn’t been easy and Dick is still grateful for the warm sparks that fill him at just being able to wake up in Bruce’s arms. He hopes they never go away.

Jason gives him shit for being a romantic, but Jason is convinced their microwave is haunted, so his opinion doesn’t count.

He grins sleepily at Bruce, “Hi, handsome.”

Bruce smiles at him, a soft thing. “You’re not so bad looking yourself.”

Dick hums and slides his eyes shut, “Come back to bed.”

Bruce chuckles and says, “Oh no, you don’t. You’re leaving in a few hours and Damian would like to spend time with you before you leave.”

Dick cracks open an eye, “Did he actually say that or is he just slamming shit again and that’s what you took from it?”

Bruce sighs and Dick grins, but opens his eyes again.

“Speaking of spending time before I leave, we should shower together.”

He waggles his eyebrows at Bruce, who rolls his eyes. “If you remember, we spent all last night _spending time_ together.”

Dick sighs happily, feeling the soreness in his ass and thighs. He’s sure that there’s an impressive amount of stubble burn down there, along with what’s most likely all over his neck. Not to mention the hickies. The guys are going to mock him _forever_.

“Come on,” Bruce cajoles, “Alfred’s got a plate full of waffles and bacon with your name on it.”

Dick grins at him, “Well, when you put it like that…” and then leaps out of bed.

Bruce swats his ass on his way to the bathroom.

~~

Wally is going and going from the minute his alarm goes off. He texts Tim to make sure he’s got the right address to meet them at. He calls his cleaning service and reminds them that he’s going to be gone, so all they have to do is air out the place once every couple weeks and water his plants. He’s called Donna at least three times already, confirming everything is in order for the tour. She’s threatened to fuck with his bass if he bothered her again, so he sits on his couch, surrounded by his bags, jiggling his foot.

He’s always needed something to do and these days writing is more of a struggle than it’s worth, he doesn’t need to be frustrated this early in the day. He lasts twenty minutes before he sends out texts to the rest of the guys in order to wake them up. Or, that’s what they were supposed to be.

Because Roy sends back a picture of Lian with syrup and chocolate all over her face, beaming. _We’ve been up since seven_.

Because Dick replies _b woke me up so we could have bkfst w lil d b4 i leave_

Because Jason sends him the middle finger emoji and _already up mom_

Wally stares at his phone. Though it’s been happening more often lately, he’s still stunned by the fact that he doesn’t have to wake any of his bandmates up, doesn’t have to drive to their places and bang on their doors or call their significant others to tell them that they have to be somewhere. He’s at a loss for what to do.

He’d woken up early so that way he could make sure that Roy, Jason, and Dick were up and functioning, and to help them pack if need be. Now, he’s got all this time. He shakes off the weird feeling he’s getting and decides that if he makes himself breakfast, instead of getting something on the way like he’d planned, he’ll kill some time.

He scratches at his bicep, right over the tree tattoo, and then figures that after breakfast he’ll give writing a chance after all.

~~

Jason hadn’t technically lied to Wally when he’d said he was up, but he also hadn’t told Wally that he was still in bed. He was _especially_ not going to tell Wally he was still in bed because he’d come hard and fast thinking about their gorgeous new photographer.

Wally would give him a speech about how Tim is going to be spending a lot of close time with them and that though he might feel like another member of the band, he is not and therefore is off limits. Jason admits he doesn’t always listen Wally’s speeches, especially if he’s in Band Dad mode, but it _is_ kind of a good point. Too bad it wouldn’t be enough to stop him, the only reason he’s not trying to sleep with Tim is that he’s fairly certain it wouldn’t just be Wally saying it to him.

Donna would probably give him a similar speech except that _she_ would say that Tim feeling like a member of the band is all the reason Jason should need in order to not sleep with him. Not that being in a band has stopped any of them from sleeping together. He knows this, and knows that sleeping with Tim would be different than the few times he’s slept with Roy. Doesn’t mean he can’t fantasize about it a little. Or a lot. As long as nothing happens between them, no one has to know.

Jason sighs and looks up at the ceiling. There’s some funky looking cobwebs up there and he wonders if it’s worth the effort to clean them. Not now, obviously, because preparing for tour is enough strenuous activity for him, thanks. But at some future point. He puts it on his to-do list right after “perform an exorcism on the microwave.” If Dick can learn to be an adult, so can Jason.

First step of being an adult is to shower, so he does that. One thing at a time. For breakfast, he pours himself a bowl of cereal, finishing off the last of the milk. He scrolls through his Twitter feed, eating cereal and absentmindedly running his left thumb over his _Where the Wild Things Are_ tattoo. He remembers Dick holding his hand when he got it and wonders if they’re gonna get tatted up again this tour, or if Dick’s going to insist on waiting until after the album’s done.

He almost snorts milk out his nose, remembering some of the stupid tattoo ideas Dick had come up with while drunk. He has a good feeling about this tour.

~~

Tim gets caught in traffic on the way to meet the band and as a result, he’s the last one to show up. He’d called Donna as soon as it appeared that he was going to be late and she reassured him that it was okay, he had plenty of time, that they wouldn’t leave without him. Still, it makes his skin itch with anxiety. Donna sees him pull in and she greets him, then directs him over to the bus, where the band is, milling around the parking lot. There’s a separate bus for crew, but Dick insisted he ride on the one with the band and then he can bunk with the crew if he wants. He thinks he’ll save that for nights when he gets sick of everyone. Not that that day is coming up anytime soon, but he likes being prepared. He shoots off a text to Cass telling her that he’s made it on time and that he’ll call her later, then walks over to the guys. 

Wally is on the far end of the lot, talking on the phone to someone. Jason is lounging on the steps of the bus, looking unfairly attractive. Roy and Dick are standing on either side of him arguing about something. Wally doesn’t see him approach but the others do and they all greet him.

Dick is dressed in jeans tighter than Tim’s and he’s got on a white v-neck that’s old and faded, so much so that Tim can see what looks like wings tattooed on his back through the material, and is about a size too small because there’s a strip of skin showing between his jeans and the hem of the shirt that reveals what look like bruises on his hips. His neck is covered in hickeys. For many reasons, Tim pretends he doesn’t notice them.

Roy is also sporting some seriously impressive hickeys, but he’s wearing a muscle tank and baggy jeans, along with a faded green trucker hat. He’s also got cool tattoos. Tim doesn’t think flower tattoos would look good on him but Roy seems to make it work.

Tim saves Jason for last, and doesn’t let himself linger. Jason’s wearing black skinny jeans and a green t-shirt. It makes his eyes pop, pulling out little flecks of green Tim hadn’t noticed before. He also has tattoos but Tim doesn’t look too long at those either.

“Hey, guys,” he says, “What’s going on?”

Dick beams at him, “Hey, Tim how’s it going?”

He shrugs, “Not much, just waiting to get started. You guys?”

“I’m good,” Dick replies, “definitely can’t wait to start touring.”

He turns to Roy, who shrugs, “It’s always hard saying goodbye to Kori and the kid, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t counting down the days til today.”

Dick hums in sympathy, “Yeah, saying goodbye to Bruce and Damian was tough. Luckily, I’ve got my lil bro with me to listen to all my homesick woes.”

He ruffles Jason’s hair and Jason swats at him, laughing. It’s a perfect in for Tim to mention that he knows Bruce, but so far none of them have said anything about the heir to Drake Industries running around photographing rock stars, and he’d like to keep it that way. So, he says nothing.

“Also,” Dick says, dodging a smack from Jason, “I’m not entirely sure what your process is, but if you wanna take some pics while we’re all waiting, it’s cool with us.”

Tim considers this, he _is_ currently holding his camera. “Well, I’m not going to photograph you guys just standing in the parking lot, so I guess I only will if something happens.”

Dick bounces on his toes, “Oh, something’s _definitely_ gonna happen.”

Roy grins smugly, “I’m going to kick everyone’s ass at hacky-sack is what’s going to happen. And then you’re all gonna have to buy me food for the _whole_ tour.”

Dick smacks Roy’s hat off his head, “Like that’s gonna happen.”

Roy picks his hat up and chases Dick across the parking lot, where Wally’s waiting. Tim observes them arguing and smiles, getting his camera ready.

“What’re the odds that actually happens?” Tim asks Jason, who’s still lounging on the bus steps. 

Jason snorts, “Zero.”

Tim fiddles with his camera strap, “And why’s that?”

“Because,” Tim jumps. Jason’s gotten up and is behind him, leaning into his space as he murmurs in Tim’s ear, “Roy is the worst hacky-sack player I have ever seen.”

Tim turns around, laughing and he sees Jason’s face light up in response. His stomach flips, a little. Tim had forgotten how attractive he is and is starting to regret not jerking off in the shower this morning. It might’ve prevented him from going all flushed around Jason. Jason looks him up and down, from his purple sneakers up to his _American Gods_ t-shirt. Tim’s starting to regret not wearing something that makes him look less like the huge nerd he is. 

But then Jason smiles again, a little crooked thing that Tim wants to lick, and says “Why does it not surprise me that you’re a Gaiman fan?”

Tim shrugs, “What can I say, Sandman changed my life.”

Which is definitely in the top 10 nerdiest things he has ever said to someone in his life. And this is just under the subsection of people who may or may not be flirting with him.

Jason smiles and whatever he was going to reply is cut off by Dick yelling out, “Hey Jayce, Tim, you guys gonna stand around and gossip or are ya gonna join us?”

Jason rolls his eyes and shoots Tim a wry smile, “He’s always like that. Last chance to back out now.”

Tim gives him a wry smile of his own, “I think I can live with that.”

He follows Jason across the lot to meet up with the others and doesn’t think about the possible double meaning of what he’s just said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have any questions/comments/concerns/want me to ramble on about this verse come say hi on tumblr.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hello how are ya? I swear I haven't forgotten about this verse, it's just that college is hard and my major requires a shitton of reading so I haven't had a chance to write much. Enough about me, you may have seen that the rating of this fic changed, that's because I'm oblivious and didn't realize what I'd set it as. There's gonna be sex in this thing and I wanna make sure everyone's prepared. 
> 
> Trigger warning in this chapter for internalized transphobia, a recovering addict craving drugs, and a tad bit of humiliation kink. Let me know if I missed anything.

Tour is incredibly exhilarating and totally exhausting, like it always is. It used to freak him out, back when they first started. It felt a little like being in the foster system again, always shuffling from place to place and more often than not, Jason would find himself sleeping curled up with Dick, afraid he’d lose his brother again. It’s better now that they’re not riding around in a crappy van with a shitty heating system, and Tim is a welcome distraction.

It’s not that he’s a particularly intrusive presence, Jason has quickly gotten used to the sound of the shutter of a camera snapping, but he finds himself thinking about the photographer more and more. Tim fits right in with them, joking and laughing like he’s been there since their first basement show. Dick, always one for new friends, has taken to teasing Tim like he does Jason and Tim rolls his pretty eyes and gives back as good as he gets. It makes Jason want to pin him against a wall and make him roll his eyes for a different reason.

Jason thought he had a handle on the whole thing, after all, it’s not like he hasn’t had ill-advised, lust-driven crushes before. But then Tim showed up to one of their post-concert parties in a skirt with fishnets and Jason nearly creamed his jeans right there.

Roy had raised an eyebrow and Tim shrugged, “Heteronormative gender assignments for clothes are bullshit.”

Jason may have swooned a little, but it was hot and he hadn’t had a lot of water that day so that’s why. Or so he told himself until Tim decimated them all at beer pong and Jason had to go jerk off in his bunk, stuck on the image of Tim’s hands raised in victory, at the way his lips were red from biting them in concentration. 

So now Jason’s playing chicken with himself, a little. Seeing how long he can hang around Tim and stand close to him without his thoughts turning pornographic. He thinks Donna knows, because he’s deliberately turned away from Tim stretching to see her staring at him contemplatively. If Donna knows it’s only a matter of time before Wally knows, and he needs Wally butting in even less than Dick, who has so far managed to be oblivious, caught up in trying to write songs and then playing songs and doing interviews — frontman shit.

It’s only a couple weeks into the tour, but he already knows that not trying to kiss Tim at least once is going to be a Herculean effort. They’re all at the venue, setting up and milling around, Jason’s sitting on some steps and he’s got his acoustic guitar out, just messing around. Tim is eagerly talking to one of their long-time guitar techs, Jaime Reyes, and they’re both gesturing wildly with smiles on their faces. Jason thinks Tim’s wearing lipgloss and he idly wonders what it tastes like.

Two people plunk down on either side of him and he finds his guitar almost yanked out of his hands.

“If you fuck up your guitar, Todd, I’m letting you go onstage with it.”

Jason rolls his eyes, “Fuck you, M, you’re a drum tech, you don’t go near my shit anyway.”

M laughs and from Jason’s other side so does Apollo.

“Kid’s got ya there,” Apollo says.

Jason rolls his eyes again, but he’s smiling. M and Apollo are pretty much the only sane ones in the crew and even if that weren’t true, they’re also the most fun. M and Dick hooked up at a show once and next thing Jason knows, this huge guy and his equally huge boyfriend are on the road with the band. Jason’s a little in love with them both in a way that doesn’t really make sense if he thinks about it too hard.

“Now, what exactly are you pretending not to be looking at here?” M asks teasingly.

“Oh, I know,” Apollo chimes in, “Could it be a certain crew member who looks just as hot in a dress as he does jeans and a ratty t-shirt?”

“Well, y’know,” Jason smirks, “I’ve been meaning to say this forever, M, but you have great legs.”

M smacks him in the back of the head while Apollo throws his head back and laughs.

“Oh shut up, I can only handle one of you guys flirting with me and your brother has a delightful habit of taking his clothes off whenever he sees fit, so you lose. Sorry, kid.”

Jason fakes a sigh and Apollo puts his arm around Jason’s shoulders, “Don’t worry, Jay, I still love you.”

He presses a loud kiss to the side of Jason’s face and Jason tries to contain his grin. 

“But seriously Jay,” M continues, “you’re practically drooling. You used to be subtler at this. I know because I used to have to _work_ to catch you ogling my boyfriend.” 

“Yeah, but you never caught me ogling _you_ so maybe you’re not as observant as you think you are.”

M punches him in the shoulder, “I don’t think so. C’mon kid, fess up.”

Jason shrugs, turning to look at Tim who’s now using his phone’s camera as a mirror to reapply his lipgloss. He still wonders what it tastes like, if Tim’s hair is long enough to get stuck when it’s windy.

He scowls, “I don’t know, I mean I want to bang the shit out of him, but I’ve wanted to do that with other roadies before. Whatever, maybe I am just losing my touch.”

Apollo and M share a glance that Jason can’t figure out. It’s the product of knowing someone for so long and as much as he and Dick do it all the time, it’s really annoying when other people do it.

M starts to say something, but then both of their radios go off in a burst of sound and they both speak into them, pulling away from Jason.

“We gotta go kid,” M says, “But word of advice?”

Jason nods.

“Tim’s a good one, if you’re just gonna fuck and run, I’d look elsewhere.”

Jason winces, they know him too well and for too long. Apollo shoots him a sympathetic smile and the two of them walk off hand-in-hand. Jason feels colder without them there.

It goes away, though, when he sees that Tim’s walking over to him.

“Hey, Jason,” Tim says. 

He doesn’t have his camera with him. Jason doesn’t know how he missed it before because Tim looks weird without it, like he’s suddenly missing a limb or gone bald.

Jason nods, wishing M hadn’t taken his guitar so he could do something with his hands.

“What’s up, Tim?”

“I heard there’s a place around here that makes killer nachos, wanna go find it?”

Jason checks the time on his phone and sees that he’s got a couple hours before he has to get back for soundcheck. There’s a voice in the back of his head warning him that this is a bad idea, but Tim is standing there with his shiny lips and his pretty everything, so Jason shuts that voice up.

He hops down off the stairs and shoots a grin at Tim, “Lead the way.”

He shoots Dick a text, telling him he’s gone off with Tim, and then shamelessly ogles Tim’s ass as he follows him out of the venue.

~~

Roy is bouncing off the walls, and not in a good way. He’s jumpy and twitchy and it reminds Dick of early in their friendship, when Roy had just found out he was pregnant, and going through withdrawal. Dick always thought it made him look like a human pogo stick, a really old toy like something Bruce probably had in his childhood. Or maybe he was too rich for those, Dick makes a mental note to ask him.

It’s possible he _shouldn’t_ have put the pixie stix into his coffee today, it did kind of taste funny after. In his defense, Roy dared him to and maybe if Roy’s like this it might not have been the best move.

Roy gets like this at the beginning of tour, when he has to get used to everyone getting trashed a lot, as well as the occasional joint that shows up. Roy’s just started to allow himself to drink again, and Dick knows he’s having trouble keeping himself balanced. Dick was an acrobat, he knows about balance.

It’s just the two of them in the dressing room. Wally left a few minutes ago, he’s trying to write stuff for the album and claimed they were distracting him. Normally Wally was good at handling their problems but somehow over the course of their existence as a band, Roy wrangling has exclusively become Dick’s job. Well, at least when Kori’s not there.

There’s any number of reasons for that, but the main one is that few things really calm Roy down when he’s like this and considering that Lian’s at a birthday party and Kori’s at a shoot, that really limits their options. Sometimes they just leave him be, because playing always makes it better or he gets cranky if they try to help but Dick thinks he might be vibrating from the caffeine and sugar and only one of them can be hyper so Dick is officially calling dibs.

Besides talking to his family or smoking cigarettes or playing music, there’s only one surefire way to calm Roy down.

He’s rambling, hair sticking up from how many times he’s run his hands through it, and pacing, trying to tell some story Dick long ago lost the plot to, “Oh man you shoulda seen it, Dickie, it was like …” he trails off as Dick shoves him into a chair and sinks into his lap.

Dick doesn’t really bother with shirts unless it’s for an interview or he’s onstage (and that’s only ‘cause Jay made him promise to wear a shirt, for some reason Dick forgets but Jay said it was necessary so) so he can feel Roy’s calluses rough on his skin as he puts his hands on Dick’s hips. 

Roy grins at him wolfishly, “Hi pretty Dickie. You’re in my lap.”

Dick returns the grin, “Yeah, Royboy I am. You gonna do something about it?”

Dick hums as Roy grabs his hair roughly and pulls him into a kiss. He hadn’t planned on getting laid today, but the universe seems to reward him anyway. Maybe the pixie stix in his coffee were a good idea after all. He’ll ask Donna later, see what she thinks.

Roy grabs his ass and Dick moans. Life is fucking awesome. 

~

Dick calls Bruce right after he gets back from his post-sex nap with Roy, “Hey, B.”

“Hey, baby.”

Dick _knows_ he sounds like he’s been sucking cock and he can tell the minute Bruce realizes this because his voice drops in register, then he moans and Dick grins into the phone, “Were you fooling around with Roy again?”

Dick squirms and hums, he’s still feeling arousal simmering underneath his skin and there’s a good chance he’ll get hard again.

“Yeah,” he admits pressing his fingers into the hickies Roy left on his neck. 

“What were you two doing?” Bruce’s voice is all growly now, which means he’s getting turned on. 

One of Dick’s favorite things is how quickly he can get Bruce horny and throwing him against the nearest stable surface. Dick took his jeans off the second he got on the bus and he’s glad he did because all he has to do is squeeze himself through his briefs. 

“C’mon, baby, tell me what a slut you are,” Bruce croons.

“I sucked him off and then he fingered me while I jerked off all over him,” Dick blurts out.

There’s a series of swears and a bit of silence before Dick hears the slick sounds of skin-on-skin. Bruce is touching himself. Dick grins and rolls onto his stomach, grinding down against his mattress. It doesn’t provide any give, not like the big expensive one they have at home.

“Tell me more,” Bruce gasps out, causing Dick to moan and grind against the bed again.

“Roy was fucking buzzing and he grabbed my hair so hard when I sucked him I thought he was gonna rip it out again.”

Bruce hums, “You must’ve done a good job then.”

Dick whines at the praise. He can picture Bruce right now, lying in their bed with the phone in between his shoulder and ear, legs spread wide as he fucks his fist. Dick sighs, “I wish I was there so _you_ could pull my hair.”

Bruce’s laugh is a rumble, “Greedy little shit. I’m putting you on speaker.”

He does and Dick can hear everything so much betternow. Bruce is going slow, teasing himself. Dick usually doesn’t have the patience, has to get Bruce’s cock down his throat right then or have Bruce inside him the second the lube’s out, but Bruce likes it sometimes, so he’ll often go slow on himself. It has the added bonus of driving Dick out of his fucking mind.

He moans loudly.

“Yeah, baby, that’s it make noise for me.”

Dick’s grinding down again, trying to keep the same slow pace with his hips as Bruce’s hand on his cock. It’s hard, though, because even though he’s already come today, Bruce makes him crazy, makes him want more and not being able to touch him makes it _worse_. He makes a frustrated noise.

Bruce’s laugh is breathy and cuts off with a gasp, he’s close, “So _impatient_.”

His voice is mocking and fond all at once, a little mean edge to it that Dick will deny to everyone but Bruce that gets him hot, makes him shudder.

“Bruce, please,” he whines.

“Don’t come until I do,” Bruce’s voice is commanding, even though his words are strained.

Dick lets out a desperate, high-pitched sound and he hears Bruce groan, long and low. 

“Fuck, your slutty little noise made me come,” Bruce sounds proud, “Go ahead and come for me.”

Dick is rutting against the bed now, chanting a litany of _BruceBrucefuckBrucepleaseplease_ as he does. He shudders full-bodied when he comes, dropping the phone, then collapses on the bed, breathing heavily. 

He lies there, phone next to his shoulder. For a minute he can’t hear anything but his own breathing, but slowly he hears Bruce saying his name through the phone. He picks it up and rolls over onto his back.

“Hi, honey,” he says cheerfully, taking off his underwear and making a face when they stick slightly. 

Bruce swears in his ear, then chuckles, “Hi yourself.”

“I miss you,” he says softly, pouting a little.

He can usually hold onto the afterglow longer than this, but his first orgasm had ended with him curled around a warm body and a familiar presence. Now he’s just alone in his bunk, wishing for the right warm body wrapped around him. Dick usually makes a point to avoid these but Roy’s still sleeping, Wally’s off probably doing something important, and Jason and Tim took off to explore a few hours ago. There’s no one to distract him; no one he has to put on a show for so he’ll allow himself to wallow.

Bruce won’t though, as he says, “I miss you too, but I know you’re having fun on tour.”

Dick sighs, “Yeah, I am. It’s a bigger tour, so the crowds are bigger and I’m still kinda wrapping my head around it.”

Bruce hums encouragingly.

Dick thinks for a bit, “Nah, honestly that’s all I got. Did I mention that I miss you? Because I really really do.”

Bruce coos at him again, “ _Dick_.” 

They really are gross like everybody says but Dick’s long-past caring about that.

Dick grumbles and Bruce laughs lightly, “You say that now but then before you know it, you’ll blink and it’ll be the end of the tour and you’ll be standing in the driveway of the Manor.”

“Promise?” He’s smiling a little now.

Bruce is smiling too, Dick can hear it in his voice, “I promise, baby.”

“You sure you’ll be there?” Dick teases.

“I’ll leave a light on for you,” Bruce replies.

Dick inhales sharply. It’s something Bruce’s mom used to say to his dad whenever he would call and say he’d be home late from the hospital. Bruce had started saying it to him while he was on the last tour, but it still hits him in the chest. It’s Bruce saying he loves him without actually saying it.

“I love you, Dick.”

Doesn’t mean he won’t, though.

Dick sighs, feeling sleepy all of a sudden, “I love you too.”

“I’ll let you sleep now.”

Dick whines, “Can you stay? Until I fall asleep?”

His eyes are getting heavy, but Bruce is in his ear telling him all about the new salad place the secretaries all went to for lunch today and maybe they’ll try it when he comes home. The second time he drifts off to sleep is just as nice as the first.

~~

It takes them a few days to notice that something’s seriously bothering Roy. The start of tour is always chaotic and everyone’s just getting settled in, plus sometimes Roy gets a craving for drugs that has him distracting himself, drowning the urge in mischief and sex. Jason hasn’t woken up superglued to anything, but he knows that Roy and Dick fooled around one day so he figures that everything’s fine. Roy was in a bad headspace and unsettled with a new person on the tour, no matter how friendly they are (though for all that he was stoked about Tim coming on tour with them, Tim mentioned barely seen him) but he’s settled now. 

Then Jason comes back from playing hacky sack with some of the crew and hears _Transgender Dysphoria Blues_ blasting from Roy’s bunk, which never means anything good, so he hunts down Wally and Dick.

They ambush Roy right there on the bus, Wally wrestling him out of his bunk like the asshole he is.

“Ow, what the fuck is wrong with you dicksmacks?” Roy protests.

Dick and Jason sit on either side of him, wedging him in so he can’t escape when Wally sits down across from him and says, “What’s going on with you?”

Roy glares at them for all of three minutes before he breaks. Literally, as he’s definitely sniffling when he says, “Oliver has a son, a real one.”

Jason blinks. 

“ _What_?” Dick asks.

“When the fuck did this happen?” Wally demands.

Roy sniffs again, “It was some fling he’d had right before Dinah told him to shape up or get lost. Kid’s name is Connor Hawke. They found out a couple months ago, but they didn’t tell me until a few days before tour.”

“The fuck you mean, _real son_?” Jason demands, “Is that what Oliver called him?” 

Jason’s angry in a way that he hasn’t been since high school, since he’d taken a baseball bat to a dude’s car and had to look at Dick’s heartbroken face the next day.

Dick can tell, always could, and reaches around Roy to touch his hand lightly to Jason’s elbow, trying to ground him. 

Roy shakes his head, “No, fuck, of course not but …” 

Wally nudges him, “But what?”

Roy’s face screws up and then he’s crying, “He looks like him. Same build, same hair, Mia says they even sound similar.”

They’re all silent for a bit, waiting, until Dick asks hesitantly, “Is that really it?”

“What do you mean, ‘is that really it?’” Roy demands, indignant, “Like that’s not enough?”

Jason sees Dick realize what he said and chimes in, “What he means is, is it really the fact that he looks like Oliver that bugs you or is the fact that he’s a cis guy? Because we know you don’t have a problem with Artemis looking like him and she’s _also_ biologically related to Oliver.”

Roy sighs, “Yeah, okay. He’s kinda buff and is also weirdly into archery like Ollie is and fuck, I don’t want to be threatened by this kid but I am and I’m pissed they took so long to tell me. Damn it, what if—?”

Roy cuts off, his shoulders shaking. Dick wraps an arm around Roy’s shoulders and pulls him to his chest.

“Have you told Kori?” Dick asks gently.

Roy nods, “Yeah, I think she was ready to drop everything and kick Ollie’s ass.” He laughs wetly, “I talked her out of it, though. He’s got a right to know his son, it just sucks for me.”

Jason pats Roy on the leg, “Well, I think you need to talk to Ollie, tell him this shit. Remember the last time something this big happened and you guys didn’t talk and it all turned out to be a huge misunderstanding?”

Everyone winces, remembering. When Roy and Kori had first started dating, Roy had kept it a secret from Oliver, for reasons Jason’s still not clear on but through several misunderstandings, Oliver had thought Roy was using again. It had resulted in a huge fight and Roy and Lian living at his and Dick’s place for a month.

Roy sniffles and shrugs his shoulders. Wally leans in and wraps his arms around both Dick and Roy and Jason does the same after a meaningful glance from Dick. Whatever happens with Oliver, they want Roy to know he’s still got them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! i am not dead! this fic has not been abandoned! i am still very much committed to it. sorry, though, for those hoping for more emotions in this chapter, you just get porn. what can i say, there are only so many ways to defeat writer's block. unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine.

It’s too fucking hot at this rest stop and it’s too fucking hot in the bus and it’s all around too fucking hot. It’s also too fucking hot for them to be taking up the same space but they’re laying around on one of the metal tables out in front of the fast food places anyway, trying to decide who should get up and get them food.

“I would worship whoever got up to go get us McDonald's,” Dick says with a moan.

“Pretty sure that’s worshipping false idols and weren’t you raised in a Catholic group home?” Tim says and Jason’s glad he’s gotten comfortable enough with them to joke about shit like that because otherwise Jason couldn’t handle it.

“No way,” Wally says, “You can’t get in trouble for that cause doesn’t that fall under ‘thou shalt not kill’ because if you let them starve, you’d technically be killing them?”

“Fuck no, dude,” Jason says, “That commandment isn’t a trump card or what the fuck ever. You don’t get to use it like that. And anyway, Tim’s right that would totally be worshipping false idols. Bad Dickie, Sister Phyllis would be ashamed of you.” He flicks Dick on the forehead, which isn’t a reach considering that Dick’s lying on top of him.

“Fuck Sister Phyllis,” Wally says and at the scandalized look both Jason and Dick shoot him adds, “Okay okay sorry no swearing about the nuns. It’s just that I don’t think that rule applies here.”

Roy lets out a truly pathetic groan, “Whatever, it’s too hot for theological discussions and anyway, Tim’s right.”

Tim looks up from where he’d been painting his nails, “I paid attention in Hebrew school, I know what I’m talking about.”

It’s said with a lot of authority for a guy Jason could most likely bench press. And for someone with glitter on his nails, but it’s more than the rest of them have so he lets it go. Dick still has his head in Jason’s lap and one day he’s going to explain to Dick that his lack of personal space is why Bruce hated Jason at first but it’s too damn hot to get into that now. 

Dick sighs dramatically, “Whatever, the question still remains: which one of us is gonna go get food?” 

They all let out a whine at the thought of moving. Some days it’s just too damned hot to function.

~~

It’s too damned hot overall, actually. It had gotten suddenly, aggressively hot as they’d crossed into the Midwestern portion of the tour and it was driving everyone a little nuts, causing them to drop layers of clothes. Dick reacted, as he always did to heat, by walking around in nothing but his boxers and having a fight with Donna each time he tried to get away with going onstage like that. Jason, similarly, had stopped wearing shirts as a whole and only wore tank tops while performing because he was afraid that Donna would flay him.

Wally had holed up in his bunk, escaping the heat and determined to get some writing done, but had not discarded items of clothing. Had Roy been able to go onstage in just his binder, he would have. Instead, he lazed around the bus shirtless or, when interacting with the rest of the world, wore baggy t-shirts that probably weren’t originally his. He also started the tour-wide water gun fight that was picked up during moments of downtime.

Tim had started wearing sundresses or tight little shorts with no shirt. Along with the sudden appearance of more skin, everyone’s libidos were running high. Either that or Jason was in a band with a bunch of sluts.

~~

Getting back to the hotel after doing one last round of shots, Tim is really glad that Jamie picked up tonight, this is not a conversation he wants anyone to overhear. He drums his fingers impatiently against his laptop as he waits for the call to connect.

“C’mon c’mon, pick up,” he mutters under his breath. 

“Hey, babe,” Cassie says, as she picks up, “Hang on, lemme get Conner over here. CONNER!”

She smiles at him and the camera bounces a little as Kon settles on the bed. He’s in just his boxers and Cassie’s wearing short shorts and a crop top. It’s not helping his state of mind.

“What’s up, Tim?”

“I swear to God, I’ve walked in on Jason changing every day this week, I’m going nuts!”

Kon laughs and heat starts to pool in Tim’s stomach.

“Dude, you need to chill, I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

Tim sighs heavily, “I keep seeing him half naked and my wet dreams are getting more and more vivid. Fuck, every time I see him I have to restrain myself from pinning him against a wall and fucking him senseless.”

“Shit, Tim,” Kon says, “You’ve got to get laid, you’re like a cat in heat.”

Beside him, Cassie yawns and stretches, and her shirt hikes up just enough so Tim can see the curve of her breasts. He tears himself away to see Kon smirking at him. He stretches too and even though Tim knows he’s being teased, he can’t help but watch the flexing of Kon’s muscles.

“Oh so that’s how it is, huh?” Cassie asks playfully.

Tim nods, heat continuing to pool in his stomach.

“You can’t have your guitar boy so you want us to scratch your itch?” Kon asks, smirking.

Tim moans, “Please.”

They look at each other, faux-consideringly. 

“Well,” Cassie says, “You haven’t fucked me since last night.”

Tim gasps, feeling his cock fill. Kon hums, “Think he’s been good enough to deserve that?”

Tim whines out a “yes, yes”

Cassie laughs as Kon moves behind her so she’s seated in between his thighs, “Not at all, but he’s desperate and you know how much I like him like that.”

Kon chuckles as he kisses the side of Cassie’s neck, then sucks a hickey. She hums and leans into it. His hands creep up to cup her breasts, thumbs rubbing over her nipples. She gasps and fists a hand in Conner’s hair, yanks him into a filthy kiss that has Tim moaning. It occurs to Tim that they had probably been fooling around before he called them, with how quickly both of them get riled up. Still, it’s not fast enough for Tim.

Kon has one hand in Cassie’s hair, sucking another hickey into her neck while she bites at his sensitive earlobe. His other hand is down her pants, a tease for Tim and a warm up for them. Kon always likes fucking Cassie after she’s had at least one orgasm and, having experienced that for himself, Tim can’t blame him.

Cassie reaches back with one hand and Tim can just see her scrape her nails up Kon’s shoulder, eliciting a growl that Tim answers with a moan.

“You like that, baby? You like hearing Kon get so turned on that he’s all growly and rough with me?” She asks, a little breathless.

Tim swallows, “Please, please let me see.”

Cassie shoves at Kon’s chest and they pull apart long enough for Cassie to get her shorts down and Kon to roll offscreen and come back naked as well as holding a condom. Kon gets back behind her and they kiss for a long while. Tim, who had been resisting for as long as he was able, finally starts to touch himself. Kon gets his hand back between Cassie’s legs, leaving her gasping and digging her nails into Kon’s hand when he puts two fingers in her. 

Tim can’t see exactly what Kon’s hand is doing, but Cassie’s hips start undulating so she must be fucking against Kon’s palm. That, and she’s arching into Kon’s other hand pinching her nipple. “F-fuck,” she swears and Kon stares right at the webcam, giving Tim a wolfish grin. She kicks the laptop off the bed when she comes, but Tim can’t register anything but how hard he is and the sound of her throaty cry in his ears.

Kon picks up the laptop, deliberately making sure Tim can see how hard he is, and says, “Sorry, dude.”

His hair is sticking up and there’s a flush making its way down from his face to his chest. His lips are red and bitten, Tim can see very little blue in his eyes. 

“Kon, sweetie, bring Tim back to bed,” Cassie calls out and when Kon turns to face her, he turns the laptop too. Tim gets an eyeful of naked Cassie spread out on the bed, looking ethereal.

“You,” Tim moans, “ you should play with her tits more.”

Kon grins, “Hear that, Cassie? Tim wants to see me mark you up more. Bet he wishes he were here to do that himself.”

“Or that he could do it to that pretty boy rockstar of his” Cassie purrs.

Tim hates that they know him so well.

“Tonight he’s just gonna have to settle for us” Kon replies.

“N-not settling,” he gasps out.

They give him twin wolfish smiles. “We know.”

Kon does at he says, Cassie shifting position so Tim can see Kon biting pink marks on her breasts. He has to grip the base of his cock to stop himself from coming when Kon sucks a particularly vicious hickey onto Cassie, causing her to cry out and white knuckle Kon’s hair. Tim starts playing with his nipples, imagining them there, swatting his hand away and marking up his chest. It makes him swear and arch into his hand.

Cassie pulls Kon into a kiss, eyes sliding sideways to the camera before she bites on Kon’s lower lip and _sucks_. They’re evil, evil people and Tim informs them so.

Cassie laughs and says, “Aww, poor baby. He’s sexually frustrated and here we are, teasing him.”

Kon looks and Tim, sees how wrecked he is, and laughs too. “Should we tease him some more?” he asks.

Tim whines, shameless. Cassie shakes her head, “Babe, as much as I love that idea, you’re not gonna last much longer and you owe me at least one more orgasm.”

It would infuriate him how clear-headed they sound, but he knows their tells. Kon is shifting his weight from side-to-side and though Tim can’t see quite well in the light, he’s pretty sure Cassie’s digging her nails into Kon’s side. One of them is shaking.

They sit up and return to facing the camera with Cassie straddling Kon as she sinks down on his cock. They’re too close for Tim to see their faces, but he’s seen this in person enough times to add what their faces are doing to the image of Cassie riding Kon. Though his hands are on her hips, she’s obviously leading and Tim sets him stroking himself to match her pace. He bites his lip and curses himself for not getting out his dildo, too far gone to get it now.

No one speaks, there’s just the sound of skin hitting skin, of moans from both sides of the camera. There’s the occasional wet sound of Cassie and Kon kissing. Fuck, Tim misses kissing.

“Cassie, babe, I’m gonna come,” Kon groans.

She and Tim moan in unison.

“Do it,” she says breathily. 

His grip on her hips tightens and thrusts up into her fiercely, coming after a few minutes. Tim swears, biting down harder on his lip and tasting blood. 

“Please, please, fuck I need to come,” he begs.

Cassie’s laugh is strained, “Kon’s offline for a bit and I’ve already come once tonight. No one’s stopping you.”

He speeds up the hand on his dick, pinching his nipples again. He fucks his fist roughly, and raises his head at a whine. Kon’s recovered and is rubbing at Cassie’s clit.

“C’mon _princess_ , come for us,” Kon growls.

Tim yells and comes, splattering his stomach and nearly kicking his own laptop off the bed. As he lays there panting, he hears Cassie wailing as she comes and wishes he had a shorter recovery time. There’s just the sound of panting for a few moments, then Tim sits up and rescues his laptop from the edge of the bed.

Cassie has crawled off of Kon and they’re back to where they started, sitting side-by-side in front of the camera. They both look wrecked and Tim can’t imagine he looks much better.

“Good job, team,” Kon says, holding his hand up to Cassie for a high five. She and Tim share a longsuffering look before she high fives him back. Tim presses his fist up to the camera when Kon does, rolling his eyes at the same time. His best friend is kind of a loser.

“Babe, can you get me a bottle of water? I’m super thirsty,” Cassie says.

Kon walks off and Tim squares his shoulders as she pulls the laptop closer to her. Her still being naked should be distracting but her face is all concern and Tim braces himself for a talking to.

All she says, though, is: “Are you really having a good time?”

He blinks. “Yeah, of course. The Jason thing should pass, it’s just physical.”

She sighs, “I can’t remember the last time not being able to fuck someone messed you up this badly, but I’ll let it slide for now. I’m just making sure that you’re not letting this be physical because you don’t want to develop feelings for this guy.”

“Cassie,” he starts, annoyed.

She holds up her hand, “I’m your friend, Tim. I’m also your ex. I know how love fucks you up is all and I know that you’d go to great lengths to avoid it.”

Tim shakes his head, “It’s not like that, I swear. If it were, you’d be the first person I’d tell.”

“Not Bart or Kon? I’m sure they’d be very hurt,” she teases.

Tim laughs, “You know you’re the best of us, of course I’d tell you first.”

“Well, it’s hard to argue with logic like that,” she replies.

They’re both still laughing when Kon returns with water for both of them. She kisses him in thanks and, for the first time all night, Tim feels the ache of loneliness inside his chest.

“Dude, did Cassie tell you we’re coming to visit?!” Kon asks.

He perks up, “What? No way!”

“Yeah, dude, us and Bart are gonna fly out to meet you in Central City!” Kon says.

“We were gonna surprise you,” Cassie glares at Kon, who just grins sheepishly, “but at least you have something to look forward to!”

“Yeah, I’m really excited to see you guys.”

She and Kon share a look, and then she says, “And, if you want to do this again, but with all three of us in the same room, we could.”

Tim sucks in a sharp breath. “What about Bart?”

Kon laughs, “Dude he’s gonna be too busy getting spoiled by his family. Besides, it’s not the first time we’ve sexiled him.”

“This is true,” Tim concedes.

“So it’s a date!” Cassie says.

Tim nods just as Kon lets out a huge yawn, causing Tim and Cassie to yawn as well.

“Well, two orgasms has me beat,” Cassie says, and she leans into Kon, “Let’s go to bed, babe.”

Kon nods sleepily and Tim smiles at them. He loves his friends and he loves how in love they are.

“Night, dude.”

“Goodnight, sweetie.”

Tim waves at them, then shuts down his laptop. He can just hear Jamie coming in as he falls asleep, sated and warm with anticipation of his friends’ visit.


End file.
